Diana Vacc sees “Arrival”

by Diana Vaccarelli

*Be warned – this review may contain spoilers*

When I heard Arrival scored high on rotten tomatoes, I had to see the film for myself. This film follows a linguist as she is recruited by the United States Military to assist in translating an alien language.

THE GOOD:

The writing of this film is top notch. Written by Eric Heisserer and adapted from Ted Chiang’s short story, Story of Your life, Arrival starts out in what I perceived to be the past but it is in fact the future. I love how Heisserer tells the story of not war and bloodshed but one of struggle to communicate and learn from the alien visitors and how the world worked together. The direction the story takes is, in a word, genius.

The actors have done an incredible job in this film. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner as Dr. Louise Banks and Ian Donnelly have incredible chemistry as the linguist and mathematician forced to work together to decipher the alien language. Adams gives a heartfelt, deeply emotional performance that definitely worked on me and my own feelings.

Bradley Young’s cinematography is brilliant and brings back the old days of science fiction in film, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey. Each scene is breathtaking to watch and contributes to the tone of each scene.

Ultimately, the true brilliance in this story is how the alien race teaches us human beings to truly communicate with one another.

THE BAD:

This has to be one of my favorite films of the year. Hence, there is nothing bad in this film.

THE REST:

If you have been longing to see a truly classic science fiction film, then this is for you. Go and see Arrival and you will be entertained – and moved – from start to finish.Diana Vaccarelli is the TVWriter™ Critic-at-Large and, in case you haven’t noticed, a HUGE Outlander fan. Learn more about her HERE